Gravity and Antigravity with Discrete Interactions: Alternatives I and II

TL;DR

This paper explores how classical gravity can be viewed as an effective approximation of underlying discrete interactions, which may produce residual effects relevant at cosmic scales, potentially explaining phenomena like galaxy rotation curves.

Contribution

It introduces a discrete interaction framework for gravity that accounts for residual effects, offering new insights into cosmic phenomena and the limitations of continuous models.

Findings

Residual interactions can be repulsive and significant at large distances.

Discrete models can naturally explain galaxy rotation curves.

Continuous gravity is an effective approximation of underlying discrete interactions.

Abstract

Questioning the experimental basis of continuous descriptions of fundamental interactions we discuss classical gravity as an effective continuous first-order approximation of a discrete interaction. The sub-dominant contributions produce a residual interaction that may be repulsive and whose physical meaning is of a correction of the excess contained in the continuous approximation. These residual interactions become important (or even dominate) at asymptotical conditions of very large distances from where there are data (rotation curves of galaxies, inflation, accelerated expansion, etc) and cosmological theoretical motivations that suggest new physics (new forms of interactions) or new forms (dark) of matter and energy. We show that a discrete picture of the world (of matter and of its interactions) produce, as an approximation, the standard continuous picture and more. The flat rotation curve of galaxies, for example, may have a simple and natural explanation.